Ingredient: Yellow Onion

Jeanette & I were discussing the values of roasts today. We are on our summer cut sheet schedule of using our chuck for more steaks and ground chuck for tasty tasty burgers.

She kept asking me what cut makes a fall aart cut like the chuck. I kept telling her brisket and she was all ” But its so expensive!” And I was all teenage Groot attitude saying ” No it’s not”. It is in fact 50 cents a pound more. With a 5 lb roast that is $2.50. But guys there is no bone unlike the chuck & the roast is bigger. HELLO LEFTOVERVILLE … Maybe I shouldn’t write blog posts after hanging out with Jeanette.

Our Briskets are amazing and this summer I will put my not so famous not so secret K.C. Style Smoked Brisket recipe up this summer. I hope life’s a bit nuts at the moment so I’m not cooking anything other than basics lately.

Brisket Tostada

While our NCF Chuck roasts are $8.75 per lb our Brisket is $9.25 per lb. We have used this recipe for parties. Shred and place out buns, tostadas , tacos, salads, on mashed potatoes and just as a dinner roast. And I’m really craving it after writing this. As we run low on Chuck roasts this summer please give this tasty recipe a try.

Are you ready for round 2 of Winter Blast? Farmer’s Almanac told us this would be a brutal winter and they were not lying. In the depth of the cold, comfort foods and soups call my name. “Lucy, we’ll keep you warm and cozy.” Ahh warming soups, just a bit of added spice to warm you up after the outdoor cold.

Butternut Squash Bisque is a classic bisque. Thick, velvety and nutritious for you as well. The past few weeks I have stared at this squash on my counter, now it is time to cook it. The twist is I’m adding Celebrity Dairy Goat Cheese to the mix, sold in the NCF store for $5 a tub. The nice thing about Butternut Squash, is that you can mix it up with just about any of the Celebrity Dairy savory goat cheese flavors and it will turn out delicious. I definitely would not do the chocolate or mango though.

For added texture I with the bisque, I recommend Accidental Baker Crackers. The NCF Store Carries them in 3 Flavors Garlic & Rosemary, Sea Salt, and Black Pepper and Salt. These crackers are locally made and taste great.

Weeping Radish products have been a great addition to the Ninja Cow Farm Store and our own personal pantries. When we first ordered the new sausages we were faced with lots of decisions. One of the new things we brought in is Linguica. Linguica is a firm peppery sausage made with Red Wine that has Portuguese origins.

I finally sat down and tried it a few weeks back, Red Beans & Rice came to my mind. During our 7 years in Florida I had many chances to work with folks from other countries. One of my favorite recipes I picked up was out of Puerto Rico from a family friend. In her recipe a homemade sausage was used. It was quite reminiscent of the Linguica we are now carrying in the store. The dried nature of this sausage helps it stand up to the cooking time involved. The flavor is powerful enough to help flavor the dish yet it retains flavors for each bite of the Linguica as well.

The secret to my Red Beans & Rice is a homemade Sofrito. You take onions, peppers, tomatoes, jalapeno, garlic, & cilantro. You cook them all down together for a short while letting the flavors meld. I must confess though. For the 2nd year in a row my onions didn’t grow. And I never got around to planting garlic last year fall. This year though I have grand plans. With my peppers still growing and my cilantro dead I did have to take a trip to the grocery store. At least my jalapenos & tomatoes are growing well.

This recipe makes a massive amount, feeding at least 10 people if not more. And it will be more. I froze several meals worth after dinner. In the Ninja Cow Farm Store we sell Linguica doe $10.50 lb. With only using 1 lb of sausage in this dish along with the remaining ingredients should bring this dish to under $25. Not to bad for a one dish meal that feeds a crowd.

Dan has been writing on the blog about all the taste testing on the farm, we’ve all put on a few extra pounds with it. Now the products that we are going to carry have been handed off to me to make yummy lunches and dinners with. Luckily I have a husband & daughter who are adventurous eaters for the most part.

Today I’m aiming for a savory sweet pork roast. One that livens up the dinner plate yet is balanced enough to not overwhelm the rest of the dinner. This is where Alarita comes in. Yesterday the sons of Miss La Rita came in with their salsa’s. We got to talking and we were throwing idea’s off of each other like the finals at Wimbledon.

With a pork roast you want to roast it at a low temperature giving the fat time to cook down and spread through the meat. Roughly an hour and fifteen minutes per pound. My favorite temperature to roast pork is at 280 degrees. Today with the citrus involved we are going a bit higher to 300 to get the sugar to play nice.

The Pork Butt & Picnic Roast both come in at $7.50 lb. The roast you see here weigh 2.66. And provide 1 meal for 4 and lunch for me. I had our neighbors Erin & Mark taste test the roast as well. All around everyone loved it. For lunch I used it to make lettuce wraps, and it was definitely just as great the 2nd time around.

I hereby interrupt the replay of recipes from the past few months for something new. The windstorm that took away our February 70 degree days, got me in the kitchen. One of my husband’s favorite dishes is Shepherd’s Pie. What is the difference between Shepherd’s Pie and Cottage Pie? Meat, Shepherd’s is made with Lamb while Cottage is made with Beef.

After you decide which type of pie to dig into then it is time to discuss vegetables. The mixture will be topped with mashed potatoes there is no crust however. For veggies I use onions, mushrooms, celery, carrots & peas. A few folks I know use green beans instead of peas, I prefer the peas.

In the NCF store Ground Lamb ( we also have ground mutton) is $10lb, Ground Beef is $9 lb. If you would like a steakier flavor the choose Ground Chuck for $10.50 lb. With the other ingredients this will still be an under $20 meal yet it will feed 8-10 people. Erin’s husband stopped by and grabbed 2 serving. One for right then, I got a text the next morning he had the other for breakfast instead of waiting for lunch.

Calorie Count, It is February as New Years Resolutions are still on the mind I am not making a bottom crust from Mashed Potatoes. Only the top of this pie with have Potatoes. Traditionally the crust is top and bottom is made from Potatoes.

For today’s recipe I’m going to use Ground Lamb, making it a Shepherd’s Pie. My husband would eat Lamb for every meal if allowed… shh I would too.

Every Sunday, my Grandmother was quite predictable she either made us a Pot Roast or a Beef Stew. My Grandmother was one of my main cooking teachers growing up. Both of my Grandmothers were really, they both believed I had a special talent and would instruct me from behind as I began cooking. This Beef Stew has varied little from the time my Great-Grandmother Rumsey taught my Grandmother Hill.
Beef Stew is an American tradition, every family has its own special recipe and this is mine. Unfortunately few pictures were taken of this dish as it was Halloween and the family descended on the pot before I remembered I didn't have a final picture. The recipe provided below few 5 adults and 2 children with no leftovers.
The Boneless Beef for Stew price at the NCF store is $8.99 lb. Combined with the veggies you're running about $15 for a meal that easily fed 7 with no empty stomachs afterward. Boneless beef for stew can take time to become tender. Long cook times are recommended. The processor uses leftover that is not being turned into ground beef to make boneless beef for stew.

During the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew I promised SWMBO & Erin that I would make them Pumpkin Goat Cheese Dip. Since then life has gotten in the way and I have yet to keep my promise. Today that will change and my friends will get a special treat just in time to stave off the candy monster awaiting around the corner.

Goat Cheese is supplied in the NCF store by Celebrity Goat Dairy, Britt & Fleming Pfann are some of the most welcoming souls you will ever meet. Together they have spent the past 30 years making a mild flavor of goat cheese for customers. The prices vary in the store depending on the style/flavor you choose.

The NCF Store recently started carrying a smaller sized brisket. Instead of 7-8lbs the new cut is more manageable for a family at 2 ½ to 4 lbs. This meal fed 2 families, 5 children and 5 adults for under $70. That’s a big crowd when you realize the kids are hitting peak growth and hunger ages. Yesterday, was a typically busy house day. It’s the beginning of the homeschooling year, creating a bit of chaos.

I started watch Big Bang Theory years ago, since then I’ve wanted to make Howard’s Mother’s Brisket. It always appears to be one of those sought after items and much discussed. At 11 a.m. I realized, “Oh no the brisket isn’t in the oven yet. Is it too late?” Usually when I smoke a brisket, I like to keep it at 225 F for 12 hours. This however, was going to be served at 6 pm. OOPS!. As I seasoned the roast I discovered I was out of garlic powder. My mise en place was non-existent. I did what any good cook does and turned up the heat, changed the recipe and crossed my fingers.

In the afternoon, I met up with Erin (our neighbor & NCF’s milker) and run a chicken errand. When Erin and I walked in the door at 5:30pm; Bam the smell hit us. Something amazing had happened while we’d been out, the garlic powder missing was a great accident. Erin was planning to make tostadas for dinner and we both thought the kids would love to have dinner together and pulled beef brisket tostadas just sound AMAZING. I must admit they tasted even better, especially since Erin pampered us with fresh fried tostada shells.

Sorry, there aren’t a ton of pictures of the process as I did not plan on blogging this due to my loss of time management. It is too good not to share though.

There has been a bag of Amish Noodles staring at me from the pantry for a month. In July, my daughter and I traveled to my home state of Missouri, the northwestern corner of the state up by Kansas, where Mennonite & Amish Markets abound. There I bought a bulk bag of Egg Noodles with dreams of Beef Stroganoff.

One of our big sellers is Beef for Stew. I use it for many things soups, stews, kebabs, etc. This meal is larger, feeding up to 8 people (Or my just my ravenous bunch of kids – Editor/Farmer).

Boneless Beef for stew runs $8.99 per pound with all of the ingredients listed you’ll have dinner for roughly $12-$15. If you want to jazz it up a bit use one of our Sirloin Steaks at $14.99 lb, thinly sliced with the fat removed.